I read 《Reflections of Alan Turing》 and here is my review.
Note: In this book, there are discussions about racism / sexism / homophobia / ableism / suicide / mental illness etc. It’s still worth reading, but beware.
《Reflections of Alan Turing》, written by Dermot Turing, was overall good. Despite disagreeing with some of the author’s opinions, I find it’s a great book about how we should celebrate Alan Turing’s life.
This book mostly follows Alan Turing’s life, and it is a biography, but it’s an unusual kind of. For example, this book starts with chronicle of Alan’s ancestors, who were mostly the civil servants of British Empire, and the fact that a member of the family got unpersoned and blocked from getting civil service job because he was half-Indian. Then the Turing family history intertwines with the discussion about colonial racism, a classics-centric culture that regards science and engineering as a second-class job, and Alan and his brother’s life story and so on.
Most of the biographical parts are well known from various other biographies, but the author makes it fresh by adding some new primary sources about Alan’s life (namely, the 2017 discovery of Alan Turing’s letters with various correspondents in Manchester University, and digitally restored letter which Alan’s mother had censored) and providing new perspective on his life as a family member. In fact, there are several memoirs from John Turing (Alan’s brother) in this book, and it shows starkly contrasted lifestyle of him (whose were more empire-aligning and socially accepted) and Alan (whose were rather messy and liberal).
This book is not just about Alan Turing’s life. It’s also about the whole family’s story(including the author), about today’s IT society and its technology, about the society’s conception of Alan Turing, and its distortion of the history. The book doesn’t end with Alan Turing’s death, it ends after checking society’s posthumous treatment of him.
This book published in 2021 means that it covers his pardon(which the author criticizes for several things), 《The Imitation Game》 (also which the author criticizes several times in the book, each time with different context), the “Alan Turing Law”(again which the author criticizes for treating dead people much better than living people), and the 50 pounds note thing.
And Then the book ends with agendas to remember and celebrate Alan Turing’s life such as equal representation and opportunity for women and POCs in STEMS, doing something with countries which still have anti-gay laws, banning conversion therapy, protection for online privacy, checking on AI bias, etc. It’s a long social commentary as well as a biography.
Now I said I disagree with some of the author’s opinions. There are few, and most of them are minor ones (at least I feel so, I saw more ridiculous opinions more often on the Internet.) But there is a discussion about Alan Turing and autism, and while the author is not entirely dismissive about the topic, I think some of the reasoning comes from stereotypes from very neurotypical perspectives.
After all, we want representation not because the represented is ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’, but because they are ‘part of the society’. Strangely, when it comes to the representation of neurodiversity, many people dismiss it as a ‘hopeful thought that one can be an extraordinary example’. (Cue Benedict Cumberbatch’s comment about ‘giving false hope’) In that regard, that specific part was kinda disappointing. But also, just as expected. (I have low expectation)
Anyways, despite its some flaws, it was worth reading. If you ever wondered how one can celebrate their hero’s life without idolizing them and streamlining their life, you can find your answer in this book. Also I highly recommend this book especially if you are fan of 《The Imitation Game》, because this book is written partially for you.
